Chelsea and Westminster IVF waitlist

[pandapopk]

Hi has anyone had ivf funded through the NHS at Chelsea and Westminster hospital? How long did the process take? I’ve been waiting 6 weeks since I got referred. Seems like this is going to be a slow process! Would love to know how long it has taken other people so I know what to expect!

@pixiecircle @Sierra26 my advice may be more out of date as it was May 22 so perhaps take the other ladies advice as she had it done more recently.

Best of luck - I was a lucky one and was actually pregnant without knowing it at that nurses appointment and my daughter has just turned one. Have hope! and re the urologist, in my experience, it's really helpful. We saw Mr Ramsey having had no guidance on my partners sperm results from the NHS (except that they were crap). The NHS gave us 5% chance of conceiving naturally whereas Ramsey had a different more positive opinion which was refreshing. It also made us feel confident he didn't have a varicocele or anything. Good luck!!! X

@pixiecircle I had my first f2f last week too and it was the same as @Sierra26
I would advise you use the typed signature on all the online forms and use your full name so they won't have to ask you to redo any of them.
There happened to be an error on my forms so I hadn't even received about 2hours worth. Luckily they let me do them after the appointment.

They told me the first scan appointment will be a longer one (around 1.5hours) as they will go through all the medications on that day.

I'm hoping to start at the end of the month and provisionally booked in a scan date but if my period is late I will have to wait till next cycle as they don't have much availability due to the bank holiday.

Good luck with it all!

@FlyOnTheWall89 that's amazing you conceived naturally before starting!

How are you getting on @User262 ? Think I'll try and start the forms this weekend 😅 thanks for the tips on name + signature!

I went to see Mr Ramsay and he was also very positive, although he did find a varicocele... despite this, he recommended not delaying our IVF as we still have good chances, but I'm feeling very nervous about it now especially if DNA fragmentation comes back high.

@pixiecircle I know it can all seem a bit overwhelming and that feeling of nerves mixed with anxiety wont go away but you just have to trust that they know what they are doing and hope for the best outcome. If Dr Ramsey recommended not to delay and chances are still good thats really positive. Hopefully this will reassure you a little although it's a different situation. My husband had a varicocele embolism in October 22, but a less severe one came back June 2023 and hasn't been operated on (yet). We did the NHS IVF round in April 2024 and although we never had any DNA fragmentation testing done I know it could possibly have been an issue due to the varicocele and raised temperature - morphology was also on the borderline level but high enough not to need ICSI in the end. Long story short I am currently 10 weeks pregnant from that round we did. (11 eggs collected, 8 fertilised but only one made it to day 5 blast to transfer - it really does only take one)
I remember feeling disappointed at each stage thinking I should have got more eggs or more should have made it to day 3 or day 5 etc its hard not to get caught up comparing to what you read online but ultimately most of it is out of your hands by the time you start the cycle.
Wishing you the best of luck for when you start!

@User262 oh wow!! Congratulations lovely — that's amazing news!!! That really does give me some hope again... god it's such a rollercoaster. That's crazy how quickly it came back (albeit less severe), but you also managed to avoid ICSI. Thanks for sharing, wishing you a smooth rest of your pregnancy!!

Just checked out the dates @User262 — did you have the scan the following month after your first f2f? And then started the process straight away?

Hi @pixiecircle ! After my f2f I was able to book to get started on my next period start date. Only issue is if that’s quite soon after your f2f they might not have a slot meaning you’d have to wait until your next cycle. And they won’t let you hold a date until you’ve had your f2f!

I had egg collection in April but developed OHSS so had to freeze all.

if that happens, for frozen transfer, they then make you wait one natural cycle (which I’m in now) before transfer. But you also need a doctors consult (which can be a 6-8wk waiting list - I managed to get a cancellation slot thank god as I was going out of my mind) and then a nurses f2f before you can get booked in.

Fortunately I’ve done all that so I’m now booked to get started when my next cycle starts next week and expect to transfer around 3 weeks from now.

@pixiecircle thank you! hoping for a smooth ride but I don't think the anxiety will ever go away!
I had my f2f with nurses on 14th march and in theory you are ready to start anytime after that appointment but it will depend on their availability and your cycle when you can actually start. At the F2F they booked me in for a provisional start date (27th March) based on when I thought I would start my next cycle. In the end I started my cycle 22nd March but luckily they could fit me in on 25th (I started in the afternoon so they considered it day 0 and 25th was day 3) I think I just got lucky they had a slot otherwise I would have had to wait until the following month.
It can be really frustrating as even when you think you have it all in place and you are mentally prepared things can change.
Wishing you the best of luck and if you have any other questions once you start I'd be happy to answer.

How are you all getting on at Chelwest?!! How was OHSS for you @Sierra26 ? Hope you recovered quickly and that you had a successful transfer!!! I'm a week into stims now, feeling a bit nervous for egg retrieval... I haven't had a single blood test since starting, is that normal? Everywhere I read online they take bloods during monitoring scans to track estrogen levels, but I've not been offered any yet. [Edited to add: sorry for the formatting, not sure why it's not letting me add line breaks!!]

@pixiecircle they didn't take any bloods for me until the last appointment before egg collection.
Wishing you the best of luck!!🤞🏽

@pixiecircle first FET failed :( planning next one now. The OHSS was horrible - fortunately I didn’t have any major issues but a lot of sever pain and insane bloating.

Great you’ve got started! Remind me are you nhs funded? I only had one blood test - the day before my trigger to test estrogen and progesterone. No one told me what they were for but I think the estrogen was to assess OHSS risk (they said I wouldn’t get it but I did) and progesterone I think to check its low where it should be pre ovulation.

wishing you all the luck!

@Sierra26 oh lovely, I’m so sorry to hear that 😔 sending you so much love!! I’m NHS funded, how about you? Wishing you all the luck with your next FET xx

That’s reassuring to hear it’s the same for you both! I was told I’d be at risk of OHSS but they’ve been happy with my scans so far and should be on course for a fresh transfer, but I guess that is pending blood results which I will receive tomorrow before ER… and of course if we get any blasts… 😬 thanks lovelies ❤️

@Sierra26 so sorry to hear your first FET didn't work. Fingers crossed wishing you all the luck for the next one 🤞🏽

Hi ladies, just wanted to update and check back in here!

How was your transfer @pixiecircle ? 🤞🏻

@User262 How are you getting on, are you going with Chelwest for your antenatal care too?

I’m currently 5+2 after my second FET at Chelwest :) first time ever seeing that BFP and I’m still in disbelief!

@Sierra26 that is amazing congratulations!! Hope you are feeling okay. Wishing you a smooth pregnancy 🙏🏽

I am doing well thank you. 27+1 now! Time is flying. I went with Queen Charlotte and Chelsea for my antenatal care as it was recommended but a few friends plus it's slightly closer to work and home for me. Where are you thinking?

@User262 thanks! I still can’t believe it’s real. Did you just have the one final appt with the Chelwest clinic, for the 8wk scan?

we need to choose between Chelwest and St George’s, think we’ll go with Chelwest.

27 weeks, how exciting! Hope you’ve been feeling well x

@Sierra26 yes I had the 8 week scan with Chelwest and then had all my normal antenatal appointments with Queen Charlotte.

Wishing you all the best throughout your pregnancy. I bet it will really start to feel real when you have that first scan xx